Temporary Resident Permits (TRPs)

Aug 2, 2017 – This section contains policy, procedures and guidance used by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) staff. The authorities have posted this information on the Department’s website as a courtesy to all stakeholders.

In some cases, officers will come across people who do not meet the requirements prescribed in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). In these cases, the officers will usually:

Refuse permanent resident or temporary resident visas abroad

Refuse Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA)

Deny entry at a Port of Entry (POE) or,

Refuse processing within Canada

In some cases, however, compelling reasons might exist for an officer to issue a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) to permit a person who does not meet the requirements of the Act to enter or remain in Canada.

Temporary Resident Permits (TRPs) – The Background and the Purpose

The Background

The authorities first introduced the Temporary Resident Permit (TRP), formerly known as the Minister’s Permit, in the Immigration Act in 1910. At the same time, the authorities replaced the hitherto discretionary powers give to the Minister for issuing removal orders (i.e. a deportation order requiring the person to leave Canada) with a more structured enforcement regime.

Parliament was of the view that, with the strong exclusion provisions, the Minister would require broad discretionary powers for using in exceptional cases. Parliament was also of the view that the Minister should be able to exercise this power in a transparent manner. To bring this about, the authorities put in place a requirement in the Immigration Act RSC 1927, whereby the Minister would need to report on the number of times the Minister exercised this power each year, categorised according to grounds of inadmissibility. This information currently forms part of the Department’s Annual Report to Parliament.

The Purpose

In subsection 24 (1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), the authorities enabled designated officers to issue Temporary Resident Permits (TRPs) to inadmissible foreign nationals, when the officers felt that the circumstances of the case warranted this. A Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) enables the holder to either enter or remain in Canada. During the validity period of the Temporary Resident Permit (TRP), the foreign national will have temporary resident status in Canada. In some cases, the Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) might be valid for at least six months. In this scenario, the foreign national could apply for a work and / or a study permit. Once the authorities cancel the Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) or in case the Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) expires, the foreign national will need to leave Canada.